As sad as the loss of a once national retail treasure is it really good to see that the empty Woolworths on Palmerston Road in Southsea has a new owner. Portsmouth City Council has agreed a lease on the property for an exciting new state-of-the-art library, contact centre and café is coming to the heart of Southsea’s shopping centre.

The building will be re-developed to create a library, IT learning zone, community space for local groups, contact centre for council services and café. We hope that the new library, contact centre and café could attract almost 80,000 visitors a year. This is an increase of 16,000 on the number of visitors to Elm Grove library which will be closed as part of the scheme.

Councillor Lee Hunt, Member for Culture and Leisure said: “This is a once in the lifetime opportunity to relocate a library into the heart of Southsea. The IT learning zone, community space and café will also broaden the range of services available to all members of the community who live in or visit the area.”